On behalf of the Board of Directors and the staff of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, I would like to send our heartfelt condolences to Nancy Niekro and the Niekro family., Born April 1, 1939 in Blaine, Ohio, Philip Henry Niekro was taught the knuckler by his father. [1], In 1982, at the age of 43, Niekro led the Braves with a 174 season while winning his fourth Gold Glove Award and appearing in his fourth All-Star game. On Sunday we learned that Phil Niekro, the greatest knuckleball pitcher in baseball history, had died of cancer the day before at age 81. The lower physical strain also fosters longer careers. A little more pressure from any of the fingertips and the ball spins. A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. Phil Niekro, Braves and Yankees pitcher whose knuckleball earned him spot in Hall of Fame, dies at 81. Hoyt Wilhelm, Phil Niekro, and Jesse Haines, three pitchers who primarily relied on the knuckleball, have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. [1], Between 1977 and 1979, Niekro was the league leader in complete games, innings pitched and batters faced. Phil Niekro achieved . We present them here for purely educational purposes. It speculates that the appearance of abrupt shifting may be due to the unpredictability of the changes in direction.[9]. Phil Niekro played for 5 teams; the Milwaukee Braves, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays. R. A. Dickey estimates that it takes at least a year to grasp its fundamentals. [23], Among position players making pitching appearances, those who have utilized the knuckleball include Wade Boggs,[24][25] Danny Worth,[26] Alex Blandino,[27] and Ernie Clement. [27], Niekro was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1997, his fifth year of eligibility. Many people, including pros, think that the pitch is thrown with fingertips dug into the seams. Keep up with headlines and events at the Baseball Hall of Fame, and see who will be taking their place in history next. Also featured are the stories of the best knuckleball catchers, from Bob Uecker and Doug Mirabelli to Rick Ferrell and Paul Richards. Phil Niekro's playing days ended in 1987, but he would don a uniform one more time, as manager of the women's barnstorming Colorado Silver Bullets (1994-97). Before the 1968 season, sportswriter Fred Down described the Braves' pitching staff as "chaotic" and reported that team leadership was planning to use Niekro as both a starter and a reliever in the coming season. These include the flutterball, the floater, the dancer, the butterfly ball (the name for the pitch used by French language game commentators employed by the Montreal Expos), the ghostball, and the bug. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? How many seasons did Phil Niekro play? In 24 seasons with the Braves, Yankees, Indians and Blue Jays, Niekro was 318-274 with a 3.35 ERA. Other prominent knuckleball pitchers have included Joe Niekro (Phil's brother), Charlie Hough, Dave Jolly, Ben Flowers, Wilbur Wood, Barney Schultz, Tom Candiotti, Bob Purkey, Steve Sparks, Eddie Rommel, Tim Wakefield, Steven Wright, and Dickey. Phil Niekro who hurled most of his famous knuckle balls with the Braves, died on Saturday . In this March 29, 2007, photo, Baseball Hall of Famer Phil Niekro holds a knuckleball at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. "[1] Bouton said, "Catchers hate it. "I never knew how to throw a fastball, never learned how to throw a curveball, a slider, split-finger, whatever they're throwing nowadays," he said. Since it developed during a period when the spitball was legal and commonly used, and was similarly surprising in its motion, the knuckleball was sometimes called the "dry spitter". Rich in anecdotes and interviews, this book shares the unique stories of Hoyt Wilhelm, Phil Niekro, Jim Bouton, Tom Candiotti, Tim Wakefield, R.A. Dickey, and many others. [2] If a knuckleball does not change direction in mid-flight, however, then it is easy to hit due to its lack of speed. Second stint with the Atlanta Braves (1987), New York Yankees Opening Day starting pitchers, List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders, List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders, List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders, List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders, List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders, List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders, List of Major League Baseball single-inning strikeout leaders, "20-Game Loser: Profiles of the 20-Loss Seasons", "Phil Niekro has never forgotten the Ohio Valley", "Phil Niekro Goes Home to Visit His Ailing Father", "Phil League Minor League Statistics and History", "Harris planning dual role for Phil Niekro", "Phil Niekro's illustrious career by the numbers", "Phil Niekro Signs 2-Year Yankee Pact (Published 1984)", "Road to 300: with Roger Clemens becoming the 21st pitcher to win 300 big league games, here are the stories of seven others who reached the same milestone", "Niekro Gets 300th Win a Shutout of Blue Jays", "YANKEES TRADED BAYLOR AND RELEASE PHIL NIEKRO", "Hall of Famer knuckleballer Phil Niekro dies at 81 | Sports | morningjournal.com", "SPORTS PEOPLE; Phil Niekro to Braves (Published 1987)", "Phil Niekro, who rode his knuckleball to the Hall of Fame, dies at 81", "No Spin Zone: Knuckleball master Phil Niekro to speak at Field of Dreams Banquet", "FresnoBee.com: Fresno Grizzlies: Niekro gets shot to pitch", "A Roster of MLB All-Stars Helped Raise Awareness for Prostate Cancer", "Legendary Braves pitcher Phil Niekro dies at age of 81", "Hall of Fame knuckleballer Niekro dead at 81", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Phil_Niekro&oldid=1138834006, Major League Baseball players with retired numbers, Louisville Colonels (minor league) players, American expatriate baseball players in Canada, Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state), Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, September 27,1987,for theAtlanta Braves, Career statistics and player information from, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 22:10. [15][16], Perhaps as a result, knuckleball pitchers often view themselves as members of an exclusive club, with its own uniform number (49, first worn by Wilhelm) and leader (Phil Niekro, whom The New Yorker in 2004 called "the undisputed Grand Poobah" of the group after Wilhelm's death). R. A. Dickey argues that, "for most managers, it takes a special manager to be able to really trust it the bad and the good of it. Niekro taught his nephew Lance Niekro to throw a knuckleball after Lance's unsuccessful stints as a power-hitting first base prospect with the San Francisco Giants. Niekro, born in Blaine, Ohio, on April 1, 1939, was the proud scion of a family dynasty of sorts. [30], The record for passed balls in an inning (4) was first set by Ray Katt of the New York Giants in 1954, catching Hoyt Wilhelm. While he was briefly promoted to the Class AAA Louisville Colonels in 1960, he spent the rest of that season pitching for the Jacksonville Braves. Niekro, often referred to by his knuckleball . There will be a period when they will beat the daylights out of you. Phil Niekro pitched a no-hitter in 1973 but his most memorable game with the Braves came in 1982, when the team started the season with 13 consecutive wins and . A pitch thrown completely without spin is less desirable, however, than one with a very slight spin. Philip Henry Niekro (/nikro/ NEE-kroh; April 1, 1939 December 26, 2020), nicknamed "Knucksie",[1] was an American baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball, 20 of them with the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves. This is due to both the knuckleball's low average speed and its erratic movement, which force the catcher to keep focusing on the ball even after the runners start stealing their next bases. And todays two tips are all about reducing those variables. In 2013, J. P. Arencibia set a Toronto Blue Jays franchise record by allowing four passed balls in the season opener (a 42 loss) while catching for knuckleballer R. A. Dickey. He found both in 1967, when he was united with Bob Uecker, a veteran reserve backstop with many quips and sage advice. 1978 Topps #206 Strikeout Leaders Phil Niekro Nolan Ryan - Nice Card. Shipping speed. The Braves went to the playoffs, where Niekro was 01 with four earned runs allowed in an eight-inning appearance against the New York Mets. (A common phrase for hitting a knuckleball is "if it's low, let it go; if it's high, let it fly"; meaning that a batter should attempt to hit a knuckleball only if it crosses the plate high in the strike zone due to lack of break.) in Blaine, OH [1], In 1980 and 1981, he went 1518 and 77 while leading the league in games started (38) and losses (18) in 1980. The grips of these guys are similar because they understand the basic rule for throwing a great knuckleball reduce as many variables as possible to put yourself into a position to give yourself a chance of killing the spin entirely. "We are heartbroken on the passing of our treasured friend, Phil Niekro," the Braves said in a statement. Unlike conventional pitches, which perform fast results without much exertion, a knuckleball pitcher must train his body and muscle memory to be able to execute a 65mph pitch with less than one rotation. Phil Niekro owns one of, if not, the best knuckleball in MLB history. Through Sunday he was 7-2, with an American League-leading ERA of 1.20. Phil baffled batters on the field and later was always the first to join in our community activities. Coaches are quick to banish the pitch after one bad outing. Phil Niekro dug his fingernails into the baseballs seams and carved out a legend eventually earning a plaque in Cooperstown. Heck, he didn't even know where it was going most of the time. Communication. A knuckleball is thrown with normal arm action, but the wrist remains stiff until the baseball has completely left the hand. Phil Niekro, the Hall of Fame knuckleballer who won 318 games in a 24-year career, died in his sleep Saturday night after a battle with cancer, the Atlanta Braves announced Sunday. Support provided by Market New York through I LOVE NY/ New York States Division of Tourism as a part of the Regional Economic Development Council awards. [1], From 1971 to 1973, he combined for a record of 4436. Not many pitchers start out with it, and you can't expect to pick it up overnight. The first is selection bias in scouting. Phil Niekros record on the field ranks him as one of the games finest pitchers, said Jane Forbes Clark, Chairman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. You get beaten down to learn another @baseballhall friend #PhilNiekro passed away. Do you have a sports website? His 23 victories that season earned him second place in the National League Cy Young Award vote. (Age 48-179d) (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library), Phil Niekro (left) greets members of Team Knucksie, including Alan Trammell (center), before the 2015 Hall of Fame Classic Game in Cooperstown. [13] And on April 8, 2010, she signed with the Chico Outlaws, debuting on May 29, 2010. Join our linker program. His knuckleball led him to five All-Star selections, three 20-win seasons for the Atlanta Braves, the 300-win club, and ultimately, to Cooperstown. The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and pick it up. The Braves finished 3rd, 4th, and 5th in their division. A team will sometimes employ a catcher solely for games started by a knuckleballer. Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. Check out some of his best highlights here!Don't forget to subscribe! His pitching coach? The four pitchers in the hall of fame include Phil Niekro, Ted Lyons, Jesse Haines, and Hoyt Wilhelm. Youve made you development 50% more difficult. He missed the 1963 season due to military service. Phil and Joe, known as "Knucksie" and "Little Knucksie," respectively, learned well, going on to pitch a total of 46 major league seasons, earn six All-Star Game berths and, in perhaps their proudest achievement, combine for 539 victories. While learning to trust the pitch which is pushed toward home plate without any spin, allowing air currents to move the ball unpredictably Niekro ascended through the Braves minor league system. In this March 29, 2007, file photo, Baseball Hall of Famer Phil Niekro holds a knuckleball which he used to pitch well into his 40s. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. As a mentor, leader and friend, Phil brought out the best in all of us in Cooperstown.